


Delivered from the Sting of Bitter Stars

by betsib



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-03-14 13:54:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3413132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betsib/pseuds/betsib
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ex-military Jason Grace is starting to get used to living on a merchant ship when they come across an abandoned vessel with a working freeze pod on board. Inside they find a human boy, who is convinced it's still 1943.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Not based on any specific franchise, but I took inspiration from many different things (Mass Effect, Firefly, Star Wars and Star Trek, just to name a few).
> 
> I posted the first part of this chapter on Tumblr months ago, so some of you might recognize it. Ratings may or may not go up in later chapters.

“Jason, wake up!” Piper said, shaking him lightly. 

“What’s going on?” Jason asked groggily, trying to collect his thoughts. Two years ago he would have been alert and ready in a second, but now his mind seemed to have trouble leaving sleep behind. Jason yawned. “Are we under attack?”

“Of course not,” Piper smiled. “We’re picking up a distress signal, but nobody’s answering. It seems to be an Imperial ship, so we might need you for this, Commander.”

“I’m nobody's commander anymore,” Jason muttered, scowling at the reminder of the life he had been forced to leave behind. “Fine, I’ll be there. Just give me a second.”

“Don’t go back to sleep,” she told him, then disappeared out the door. Jason yawned again and stretched as he got out of bed. A distress signal from an Imperial vessel… Jason hoped he could remember what the proper protocol was.

Before the accident he would have been able to cite every paragraph about receiving distress signals directly from the rule-book, but now he could only recall bits and pieces. Most likely the procedure would return to him once he was actually  _doing_  it.

He got dressed and made his way up to the bridge. Percy and Annabeth were manning the controls, but Leo and Piper stood behind them, watching as Annabeth made another attempt to contact the vessel.

“Imperial vessel 2145, this is  _Argo II_ , come in,” she said. Her tone indicated they had been trying this for a while. She sighed and looked up at Jason. “No response, but we should reach them in a couple of minutes.”

Jason nodded. “2145 sounds like an old ship. Maybe they have problems receiving communication.”

“Hold on, we’re getting close,” Percy said. “There! Is that it?”

Jason looked up at the window, noticing the ship coming closer and closer. He had been right, the ship was old, almost a museum piece. Jason thought it was no wonder they had been in distress in that thing, then they got closer.

“Oh, no,” Piper whispered. There was a large hole in the hull, like someone had shot at it while the shields were down.

“Not much chance of finding survivors,” Annabeth said. “Should we investigate anyway?”

“Why not? There might be something interesting in there,” Percy said, and Jason frowned.

“Finders keepers doesn’t apply to Imperial vessels, Captain,” he pointed out. “But we are obliged to retrieve the data-log and send it to the Capitol in any case.”

“Suit up, then,” Percy grinned. “Let’s go have a look.”

 ***

“Well, this looks ancient,” Percy said as they entered the ship some time later. “I don’t think anyone’s been here for a while. She looks like she’s been floating around space for years.”

“It’s possible they abandoned ship before it got shot,” Jason said. “The distress signal is automatic if the hull gets damaged. Maybe no one died here, after all.”

“Um, I think someone did,” Percy said from behind the corner. “Come take a look at this.”

“Oh, fuck,” Jason swore when he saw what Percy was referring to. Five freezing pods stood in the other room. Most of them were pretty damaged by the attack on the ship. Whoever had been frozen inside of them would have died instantly.

“At least they didn’t feel any pain,” Percy said solemnly. “But I thought only long-range pioneer ships had freezing pods.”

“Some military ships have them, to freeze wounded soldiers until they can get to a hospital to receive proper treatment,” Jason said, frowning. “This looks like research ship, so I don’t know what they’re doing here.”

“Well, the ship  _is_  old,” Percy said. “Maybe they used to have them everywhere.  Let’s go find the bridge.”

He started moving further in, but Jason hesitated. Something caught his eye around the pod furthest away from the damage, and Jason did a double take when he realized it was a small light.

“Is…is that pod still  _active?_ ” Jason asked, staring at the contraption.

“Come on, that’s impossible,” Percy said, though he did turn around to look. “Isn’t it?”

“Highly unlikely, but not impossible,” Leo said over the radio. “They are built to withstand extreme temperatures, after all. These old ships have solar panels, and if the pod is hooked up directly to one of them it could theoretically remain active for a very long time on a minimum on power, even if surrounded by vacuum. After all, once the initial freezing is done the machine only needs…”

“Hold it, Leo,” Percy said. “I think Jason might be right. The thing _is_ still active. How do we get it on board without killing the person inside?”

“You’ll need to hook it up to an alternate power source for the duration of the transfer,” Leo said. “Actually, I’ll do it. I want to see this. Get me into one of those suits!”

“Let’s see if we can find the log in the meantime,” Percy said, but the search proved fruitless. They found the bridge easily enough, but the log had already been removed.

“Maybe we’re not the first to find this ship, or maybe they took it with them when they left,” Percy said.

“Either way, we have to report this to the Capitol,” Jason said. “Especially if we actually find someone alive in that pod.”

They looked around a bit more, but found nothing of consequence, as if the ship had been emptied of everything useful, save the pods. They moved back down to the room with the active freezing pod, and Leo joined them a few minutes later.

“Holy crap, you were right!” he exclaimed. “Let’s get this thing on board.”

“Just wait until we tell the person inside they’ve been floating around in a broken spaceship for god knows how many years,” Percy laughed, and Jason couldn’t help but smile.

“Not to be a buzzkill, but even if the pod is active the person inside could be long gone,” Annabeth said over the radio. “Freezing is an incredibly delicate process. There are hundreds of things that can go wrong.”

“We’ll see soon enough,” Jason said. “Just make sure the medical bay is prepared.”

***

They were all gathered around to watch as Leo begun the unfreezing process. Jason stared as the pod slowly opened, revealing a boy of maybe seventeen-eighteen years with dark curly hair and pale skin. A  _human_  boy.

“Huh,” Percy said. “Wasn’t expecting that. On a ship that old I thought for sure it would be an alien.”

“Don’t call them that,” Piper said absently, looking equally surprised.

“He must have been one of the pioneers back when humans first started colonizing other systems,” Annabeth said, sounding fascinated. “How are his vitals?”

“Some unusual brain activity, but otherwise stable,” Leo said. “No telling when he’ll wake up. Might as well move him to an actual bed in the meantime. Any volunteers?”

“I’ll do it,” Jason said. “You just want the pod free so you can pick it apart, right?”

Leo shrugged. “That’s the gist of it,” he grinned.

The boy showed no signs of waking up, so they all returned to their duties as they resumed their course to Monssor. Jason wasn’t exactly looking forward to going there. He couldn’t recall the details, but he was sure he’d gotten into some trouble there during his service in the Imperial Military. There was a lot of things about his time in the Military he couldn't recall.

He wished he could remember more. He had been raised into the military since he was five years old, as a part of the Obligatory Imperial Conscription Program, which meant every species had to give up a certain amount of children to the military every year. Harsh as it sounded, it was actually not a bad life for the orphans and unwanted children who usually ended up in the program. It was well funded, and the children learned practical skills and art as well as got military training. Nobody went on active duty until they were fifteen, which people back on earth still argued was way too young. The same rules applied to all species, though, relative to total life length, and it meant the obligatory ten years of service was over when the kid was twenty five. Many kids stayed on beyond that, though.

Unless they got injured and discharged at the age of twenty, like Jason had done. He had heard about the accident that had caused his memory loss (among other injuries that had healed by now), but he still couldn't really remember it. He was just glad to Piper had invited him to come work at the _Argo II_ , so he could still travel the stars.

Even if that sometimes meant visiting backwater places like Monssor.

***

They were just getting into orbit about a day later when Piper ran up to him.

“Jason!” she shouted. “You might want to come watch this. The boy is awake.”

Jason hurried after her down to the sick bay. The others were already the gathered around the boy sitting up on the bed, looking disoriented. He looked up briefly as Piper and Jason entered the room, and Jason met his eyes for half a second. He had the darkest eyes Jason had ever seen.

“ _Cosa sta succedendo?_ ” The boy said, sounding like he had trouble getting the words out. Not surprising, considering he had been frozen solid just hours earlier.

“Ehrm,” Percy said. “I’m not good with languages. Any chance you speak English? Or Imperial common?”

“I speak English,” the boy said hesitatingly. “What’s going on? Where am I? Who are you?”

“Relax, you’re safe,” Annabeth said gently. “You’re aboard  _Argo II_ , and we’re the crew. My name is Annabeth, and this is Percy, the captain.”

“We rescued you from a broken Imperial ship,” Percy added.

The boy frowned, looking confused. “Ship?” he asked slowly. “How did I end up on…?” He trailed off, looking like trying to remember was painful, then he looked up quickly. “Do you know if my sister is alive?”

“Um,” Percy said uncomfortably. “I’m so sorry. You were the only one alive on that ship.”

The boy shook his head. “No, Bianca is still in France, I think,” he said. “They needed nurses for the war. Is there any way to find out if she made it?”

“France?” Percy repeated. “I didn’t even know New France had been in any wars.”

“They haven’t, if you don’t count the Iytsil rebellion a few years after the colony was established,” Jason said. “Is that what you mean?”

“I…I don’t understand,” the boy said. “I don’t know where Iytsil is. Bianca went to help against the Germans.”

“The Germans?” Leo repeated. “What’s he talking about?”

Annabeth looked slightly shaken. “What’s your name?” she asked, sounding a bit strained.

“Nico di Angelo,” the boy said.

“Well, Nico,” Annabeth continued. “What year do you think it is?”

Nico frowned. “I’m not sure, I  _feel_  like it’s been a long time since Bianca left, but…” he said uncertainly. “1943.”

There was complete silence in the room for a while.

“You’re kidding,” Leo exclaimed, breaking the silence.

“That’s not possible,” Jason said. “That was a hundred years before First Contact.”

“But the ship looked ancient,” Percy pointed out. “It could be illegal trafficking or something.”

“It was a Imperial vessel, not some smuggler’s ship” Annabeth said.

“And that would make him over two hundred years old,” Leo said. “There’s no way that pod lasted that long in that condition. He has to be lying!”

“I’m not lying,” Nico said. “What are you talking about?”

“Everybody,  _shut up,_ ” Piper said. She didn’t scream, didn’t even raise her voice, but they all fell silent all the same. “Good,” she nodded. “Now, cut the kid some slack. He just woke up after a  _long_  time of being frozen down, and could use some time to rest. You can interrogate him later.”

“Piper’s right,” Percy said. “We all have stuff to do anyway. Jason, could you stay and try to explain the situation to Nico? I need Piper to negotiate a decent landing dock in Monssor.”

“Fine,” Jason agreed, and they all started to clear out, leaving Jason alone with the confused boy on the bed. Nico was holding his head in his hands, looking like he was in pain.

“Headache?” Jason asked sympathetically. “I could give you a pill for that if you want.”

“It’s fine,” Nico said, looking up at him again. “What were they talking about earlier? Why did they think I was lying?”

Jason sighed as he sat down on the chair beside the bed, wondering where to start. “This is going to be hard for you to hear,” Jason said. “According to the Old Earth Calendar this is the year 2195.”

Nico blinked. “You’re lying!” he said, but Jason shook his head.

“I can prove it, but I think just taking a walk around the ship would convince you, if you’re up for it,” Jason said. “It’s harder for us to believe you’re over two hundred years old. What’s the last thing you remember?”

Nico frowned, then winced like something hurt. “I’m not sure,” he said. “I said goodbye to Bianca at the train station, then… I think I went out to be alone for a while. Something…something happened, though I can’t remember what. It hurts when I try.”

“Give it time, it’ll come back to you,” Jason said gently, then smiled. “Trust me, I know what I’m talking about. I’m still recovering from getting memory loss two years ago.”

“I’m not sure it’s the same. It just hurts,” Nico said, then sighed and attempted to stand up, which clearly took considerable effort. Jason got up to steady him.

“I’ll be fine,” Nico said, pushing Jason away from him. “I just need to see for myself. You said the ship would convince me, right?”

“I think it will, but you don’t look like you can walk by yourself just now,” Jason said. “Hang on, I’ll get you a wheelchair.”

“I’m not an invalid,” Nico said angrily.

“You just woke up after what seem to be two hundred years as an icicle,” Jason said sternly as he fetched the chair from the . “It would be weird if you  _could_  walk. When you get tired, let me know immediately.”

Nico scoffed as Jason folded up the chair in front of him. “You’re telling me that 200 years in the future people still use  _wheelchairs?_ ”

“People with permanent injuries or disabilities have other means to get around, but for small, temporary things like this the wheelchair is still the most practical,” Jason shrugged. “There are really advanced ones out there, but I think they just wanted one that didn’t take up so much space. Do you need help sitting down?”

“Hardly,” Nico said icily as he moved to sit down into the wheelchair. Jason took a hold of the handle without a word and started pushing Nico forward.

Nico was quiet the whole tour. Jason gave him brief explanations on what the rooms were for,  but Nico never answered.

“This is the cockpit, as you can probably see. We’re in orbit around Monssor right now, waiting for permission to land.”

He heard Nico take a shaking breath. “When you said  _ship_ , I thought…” he said quietly, then trailed off, staring at the scene in front of him. Jason had seen planets from orbit plenty of times, and Monssor was hardly the prettiest planet out there, but Nico seemed completely in awe of it. He stared out the window for a long time, then his shoulders slumped.

“I’m tired,” he said in a hollow, defeated voice. “Take me back down. I just want to go to sleep.”

Jason nodded and started to push him back towards the sick bay. Nico kept quiet again, but the silence felt different, somehow. Before it had felt defiant. like he had been determined to call Jason’s bluff. Now his shaky breathing was the only thing breaking the silence.

When they reached the sick bay Nico got up and lay down on the bed without a word, never looking at Jason.

“I realize this is a lot to take in…” Jason begun, and Nico gave a sound that might have been a snort, though a sob was just as likely.

“Do you?” Nico said, his voice shaking. “My sister is dead. Do you realize that? Even if she survived the war, she’s still dead now. I’ll never see her again, and I…” He sobbed, curling up into a ball beneath the sheets. “Just leave me alone.”

Jason hesitated, but there was nothing he could do to help. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll leave. But if you need anything, anything at all, just push that green button by your bed, okay? Someone will turn up to help.”

“Just go,” Nico said, and Jason reluctantly got out of the sick bay.

The others were preparing for landing, so he stayed out of their way until the ship was secure.

“Well? Not a bad landing, right?” Percy grinned as they gathered afterwards. Jason rolled his eyes.

“Not completely according to recommendations, but close enough,” he said, and Percy laughed before turning serious again.

“How is our defrozen guest? I saw you give him the tour earlier.”

Jason shook his head. “Not well. I convinced him we we’re telling the truth about the date, and he realized everyone he’s ever known is long dead. Including the sister he asked about.”

“Damn,” Percy swore. “That must be terrible.”

“Did you manage to confirm that he’s  _actually_  from 1943?” Annabeth asked.

“ _He’s_  convinced that’s the case,” Jason said, frowning. “But it doesn’t make sense. Could someone have planted these memories in him?”

“It’s possible,” Annabeth nodded. “Did he say how he ended up on that ship?”

“No, he said it hurt to think about.”

“That’s convenient,” Leo said. “As soon as I have time I’ll have a closer look at the pod, but there’s no way it’s  _that_  old.”

“And it doesn’t add up anyway,” Piper said. “1943 was way before First Contact was established. Hell, it was way before humanity went into space at all. How could he possibly have ended up on that ship?”

“I don’t know,” Jason said. “We’ll ask him again when he’s had some time to adjust. Even if his memories are false, he believes them. He must be devastated, and terrified.”

 ***

Jason found Nico in the kitchen early the following morning, resting his elbows at the table and apparently staring down at nothing, though he looked up when Jason entered.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Jason asked.

Nico made a face at him. “I’ll survive. Apparently I’m good at that,” he said hollowly.

“Did you walk here by yourself?”

“I told you I’m not an invalid,” Nico said. “I can walk by myself.”

“Good to hear,” Jason said, trying not to be discouraged by Nico’s tone. “Did you eat anything already?”

“I’m not hungry.”

Jason frowned. “You haven’t eaten anything for two hundred years,” he pointed out. “I’ll make you breakfast. Hold on.”

“What part of  _I’m not hungry_  was hard to understand?” Nico scowled.

“The part where you’re not hungry,” Piper said, entering the kitchen with a frown on her face. “And you need to stop trying to bite Jason’s head off. He’s only being nice. We get that you’re angry, but none of this was our fault, understand?”

Nico stared at her for a moment, then his shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I just… I’ve been rude. I apologize.”

“It’s okay. It’s not like we don’t get why,” Jason said gently. “Do you like eggs? I could make you an omelet.”

 “You better say yes, because it’s the only thing he knows how to make,” Piper grinned towards Nico.

“I’m really not hungry,” Nico said uncertainly, then sighed as Piper gave him a stern look. “Fine, if you insist. Omelet would be great.”

Jason smiled widely as he turned towards the stove.

“See how happy you’ve made him?” she laughed. “I’ll see you two later. I need to negotiate a good prize for the cargo.”

She disappeared out the door. Nico gave Jason an uncertain look.

“Are you merchants or something?” he asked, and Jason shrugged.

“Or something,” he agreed. “We transport goods from here to there, occasionally take passengers, esort other ships when they need protection and so on.”

“Mercenaries?” Nico asked. Jason shook his head with a frown.

“No, not exactly. We do get into fights, which is the main reason I work here, but it’s not what we do most of the time,” Jason said. “Mostly we’re just transporting stuff.”

“Legal stuff?” Nico asked, and Jason laughed.

“Of course,” he said. “Percy doesn’t have as much respect for law and order as I do, but he’s not doing anything illegal. On the border of, sometimes, but never illegal. Why do you ask?”

Nico shrugged. “Just curious,” he said. “I noticed we have landed somewhere and yet I’m not in a hospital, so I wanted to know where I stand.”

“Trust me, you don’t want to be left on Monssor,” Jason said with a grim smile. “It’s a trading port, but it’s not somewhere  _anyone_  wants to stay longer than they need to. Besides, we found you in an old Imperial vessel, so we should probably take you to the Capitol.”

“So I’m essentially cargo,” Nico concluded.

“Of course not,” Jason said. “If you have any better suggestions I’m sure Percy will take them into account.”

“I don’t,” Nico muttered. “How could I?”

Jason didn’t really know how to answer that. He finished the omelet in silence and put it in front of Nico, who frowned.

“Those are not tomatoes, right? What are they?”

“Oh, right, you’ve probably never had them,” Jason said. “They’re called matotos, because they guy who discovered them had a bad sense of humor. Try them, I’ll make you another one if you don’t like them.”

Nico gave the food a suspicious look before taking a careful bite out of the omelet. “It’s strange, but not in a bad way,” he said.

“Good,” Jason smiled, turning back to the stove to make himself some breakfast as well.

Nico was halfway through his omelet when Jason sat down in front of him, but he didn’t look like he was planning on eating anymore. He seemed lost in thought.

“How are you holding up, really?” Jason asked gently.

Nico sighed deeply. “I don’t know. I can’t wrap my head around it,” he said. “I feel like I’m stuck in a Flash Gordon-comic.”

“I’ve heard about those,” Jason said. “There’s a planet named after him in one of the outer systems.”

Nico looked up at him, clearly expecting him to be joking, but he wasn’t. Jason smiled.

“I can show you on a map later, if you like.”

Nico actually looked interested for a second before his shoulders slumped. “Sure. If you have time,” he said gloomily.

“Look, I know I can’t possibly understand what you’re going through right now, but if you want to talk about it, I’ll listen,” Jason said, feeling helpless in the face of such sad eyes.

“Thanks, it’s just...” Nico said, looking for the right words. “It’s a strange feeling. Every time I get excited about something in this place, I remember that Bianca will never experience it.”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said.

“Yeah,” Nico muttered. “Me too.”

***

“Okay, crew meeting,” Percy said. “What are we going to do about Nico?”

Jason was a bit surprised. “We’re taking him to the Capitol, right? They’ll have answers for him there.”

“Jason, I’m not so sure we should,” Piper said, gently placing a hand on his arm. “He was in stasis on an Imperial vessel, long before humanity were supposed to have contact with the Empire or non-terrestrials in general.”

“It took a while, but I managed to get the pod analysed,” Leo said. “It really is that old, so either the captain of that ship liked old fashioned technology or Nico has set a new record in time spent as an icicle. For humans, anyway.”

“Which means he was either kidnapped by slavers or something and rescued by an Imperial ship, which doesn’t explain why he was frozen, or the Empire actually were abducting humans for experiments before First Contact,” Annabeth concluded.

“Abductions? Sounds like that garbage human supremacists are talking about,” Jason said.

“True, but the whole thing is fishy,” Percy said. “I don’t want to hand him over to the Capitol without knowing he’d be safe.”

“There’s no way of knowing anything for certain until Nico actually remembers what happened, though,” Annabeth said soberly.

“He should still have a say in what happens to him. I don't want him asking if he's cargo again,” Jason said. “I could try to explain the options to him.”

“Agreed. You talk to him,” Percy said. “How is he doing, anyway?”

“I’m not sure. He’s grieving, and confused,” Jason said. “Give him time.”

***

He found Nico in the med bay, looking at the equipment with a fascinated expression. He apparently hadn't dared touch anything, though, which Jason supposed was for the best, but the whole thing was kinda cute to watch. He looked up as Jason approached.

"Hey," Jason said, then explained what he and the rest of the crew had been talking about earlier. Nico looked a bit troubled as he finished.

“Do I have to make a decision right now?” he asked. “Couldn’t I just stay on board for a bit? I could find some way to be useful, sweeping the floors or something.”

“It’s not up to me,” Jason said, a little surprised. “We should ask the Captain. But are you sure? We could take you back to Earth if you want.”

“I don’t think I could bear that right now,” Nico said. “Besides, on the map you showed me Earth seemed really far away. Bringing me there would be really expensive, wouldn’t it?”

“Fair point. We’re not exactly swimming in money right now,” Jason smiled. “Come on, let’s go talk to the captain.”

***

“I don’t have a problem with it,” Percy said. “Annabeth actually suggested it earlier, since it’s probably better to get you used to this century before we release you into the wild, so to speak.”

“That’s not exactly how I put it,” Annabeth said. “Anyway, welcome to the crew, Nico. We need to find somewhere for you to sleep.”

“We could clean out the Cupboard for him,” Percy suggested. Nico frowned confusedly at the suggestion, and Jason smiled.

“Not an actual cupboard. It’s the room next to my quarters,” he explained. “We’ve been using it for storage and it’s full of junk right now.”

“It’s not junk,” Percy said, making a face. “But we can put the stuff in the cargo hold for now. It’s empty anyway.”

“No new jobs?” Jason asked, but Percy shook his head.

“Not yet. I have every confidence Piper will find us something, though,” he said, getting up from his chair. “In the meantime, let’s get Nico settled in.”

“I don’t want to trouble you. If someone shows me where to put the stuff I can do it myself,” Nico said uncertainly. Percy grinned and ruffled his hair.

“I doubt you could carry the boxes by yourself,” he said. “Come on, Jason. Let’s go see if those muscles are actually good for something.”

***

The Cupboard was a small room, hardly more than a closet. It had a bed and some shelves built into the wall, but there were hardly space for more than that. Even so, it took them a couple of hours to empty it.

“We should just have put you in the passenger cabin,” Percy complained when they were halfway done. “We don’t get them often, anyway.”

“If you had done that Piper would have brought a passenger with her when she came back, no doubt about it,” Jason pointed out, and Percy laughed.

“If it gets us a job, then let’s do it,” he grinned. “Nico, you’re staying in the passenger cabin, but we’re cleaning this up just in case.”

“It won’t work if you do that,” Nico said dryly.

Percy shrugged. “Suit yourself. The passenger cabin is the second largest on the ship.”

“This is fine,” Nico said, grabbing another box and walking out with it, heading for the cargo hold.

“He’s doing better than I thought. I expected him to have questions about everything,” Percy said when Nico had left.

“Maybe he doesn’t know where to start,” Jason suggested. “I get the feeling he just kinda accepts everything because he feels like he’s been thrown down the rabbit hole.”

“Didn’t know you were a fan of old Earth classics,” Percy said. “But I get it. I just have a nagging feeling that’s not all there’s to it.”

“You think he’s lying?”

“No, I just...” Percy sighed. “Let’s just keep an eye on him for a while.”

***

They had just finished emptying the room when Leo walked through the door.

“Jason, I need you,” Leo said.

“It’s nice to be needed,” Jason said dryly. “What’s up?”

“I have to get to the markets and pick up some stuff, and Piper’s off looking for jobs,” Leo said. “So I need you to look all intimidating while I haggle over the price, or they’re gonna rip me off completely.”

Jason laughed. “I can do that.”

"What, and I'm not intimidating enough?" Percy asked, faking insult. "I see how it is. I'll just go hide in my cabin in shame."

"You're hiding so Leo won't ask you to carry anything else," Jason said pointedly, and Percy laughed as he disappeared up towards the cockpit.

“Could I come?” Nico asked, actually sounding interested. Jason hesitated.

“Monssor really shouldn’t be the first planet you see,” he said, but Leo laughed.

“Trial by fire,” he said. “Besides, the kid looks kinda creepy, so he might help us get a better price.”

“The kid is standing right here,” Nico scowled. “And he’s about two hundred years older than you.”

“Years spent in stasis don’t count, grandpa,” Leo laughed, then his grin disappeared to give way to a horrified expression. “Wait, you didn’t have any kids, right?”

Nico rolled his eyes. “I was twelve, so no.”

“Good,” Leo said. “That would have been freaky, finding out that you’re actually my ancestor or something.”

Jason shook his head. “Come on, let’s go ashore,” he said. “And Nico, this is a mostly human settlement, but there will be non-terrestrials as well. Try not to freak out.”

“You mean aliens?” Nico asked.

“It’s a slightly offensive term,” Jason said uncertainly. “Some of them might get angry if you call them that.”

“Mostly it’s politically correct humans who complain, though. Like Piper,” Leo shrugged. “Most _aliens_ don’t give a shit.”

“I understand,” Nico said. “What do they look like?”

“You’ll see soon enough,” Leo grinned. “I can’t wait to see your face.”

“Be nice, Leo,” Jason said, though he was admittedly curious as well. He just hoped Nico wouldn’t be too freaked out.

 ***

As it turned out, Nico handled it pretty well. The first non-terrestrials they met were Shavilans, and Jason was honestly surprised Nico didn’t scream when he saw their frog-like faces. He did stare a little more than was appropriate, though, but Jason couldn’t blame him for that.

 _“Got a problem, human?” o_ ne of the Shavilans asked irritatedly.

That seemed to bring Nico out of his daze. _“No, I’m so sorry,”_ he said hastily, and the Shavilan seemed satisfied with that. They were halfway to the used ship parts store when it suddenly hit Jason that Nico had been speaking Imperial Common.

The realization made him stop in the middle of the street and almost getting run over by a guy riding one of those lizard creatures that most humans simply called dinosaurs, even though they had another name.

“Jason, get your head out of the clouds,” Leo shouted.

“Sorry,” Jason said, figuring he could ask about it when they got back to the ship.

***

As soon as they got back Jason decided to go for it.

 _“How did you like the market?”_ he asked Nico, speaking Imperial Common as an experiment.

 _“It was a bit odd, but not as bad as I thought it would be,”_ Nico answered, shrugging slightly. Apparently he wasn’t even aware he was speaking another language, but Leo noticed.

“Okay, now I’m confused,” Leo said. “If you’re from way back, how do you know that language?”

“What language?” Nico asked, sounding confused.

 _“This language,”_ Jason answered, still in Imperial Common. _“I’m not speaking English anymore. How come you can understand me?”_

“I didn’t realize, ” Nico said, looking at him with wide eyes. “How do I...I don’t...” He frowned, then his whole body twitched and he put a hand on his head. “I...It hurts, it...” He started to look panicked as his breathing became more rapid, but he still held on to his head. “Make it stop. Please make it stop.” Nico screamed.

Then suddenly everything went silent and Nico collapsed, unconscious. Jason managed to catch him before he hit the floor, but he wasn’t moving.

“That was weird,” Leo said.

“Understatement,” Jason said. “Let’s get him to the med bay.”

***

“It actually make sense,” Leo said when they had laid Nico down on a bed in the med bay and checked that his vitals were stable. “He said something about being twelve, right?”

“Right,” Jason nodded, looking over at Nico. “He’s definitely not twelve now. I’m guessing he's not much younger than we are. Seventeen, maybe eighteen or nineteen?”

“Meaning he’s lost at least five years,” Leo surmised. “If he got abducted by the Empire he probably picked up the language during that time.”

“There are no records of the Empire ever abducting anyone,” Jason said.

“Exactly. No records,” Leo said. “I don’t want to sound like a human supremacist, but it looks like they might have been lying about it. Imagine the scandal!”

“I’m trying not to,” Jason said. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. When Nico remember what happened, we’ll know.”

“I wouldn’t count on it. I’m no psychiatrist, but the guy looked like he’s got some serious trauma there. I guess you'd know all about that,” Leo said. “Anyway, I need to go replace some old stuff in the engine. See you later.”

Jason stayed by Nico’s side, waiting for him to wake up.

A while later Nico slowly opened his eyes, then sat up, holding his head.

“What happened?” he asked.

“You collapsed after speaking Imperial Common,” Jason said carefully, and Nico winced.

“I’m sorry. It hurts to think about,” he said, and Jason nodded.

“Then leave it, at least for now,” he said. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” Nico sighed, then got on his feet. “I think I should head to my room and sleep.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Jason nodded, following him out the med bay. Nico was stumbling a bit, and Jason wanted to make sure he didn’t hurt himself. “I’ll do the same soon. My room is right next to yours, so knock if you need anything, okay?”

“I’ll be fine, but thanks,” Nico said, then disappeared towards the crews quarters. Jason looked after him for a moment, then went to see if Leo needed some help before going to sleep.

***

He was woken up a few hours later by the com-link in his room.

“Attention all crewmembers, this is a message to announce a change in schedule,” Percy said through the com-link, apparently making a show of following protocols, before laughing. “Piper got us a urgent delivery job, so we’re leaving this rock now. In other words; Leo, get up and make sure we’re ready to jump. Jason, go wake him. He’s probably still asleep.”

Jason groaned and rolled out of bed, not bothering to change out of his pyjama. As he walked out his door he saw Nico standing by the entrance to his own quarters, looking a bit confused.

“Hey,” Jason smiled. “You should head up to the bridge. You might want to watch this.”

“I don’t want to get in the way,” Nico said uncertainly.

“Relax, you won’t be. Just head up there,” Jason said. “I need to go wake Leo up.”

He left Nico to make his own decision and entered Leo’s cabin without knocking. Predictably the mechanic was still deep asleep, and Jason shook him awake rather roughly.

“Whatsgoingon?” Leo grumbled.

“Get up, they need you at the engine for the jump,” Jason said. “We got some urgent delivery job.”

Leo yawned widely as he let Jason drag him out of bed.

“I only just fell asleep. And there’s nothing wrong with the ship, she’s ready to jump any time,” Leo said grumpily. “But of course they can’t do it without me. Fine, I’m going.”

“Good,” Jason said, considering going back to sleep since he wasn’t really needed for take-off, but then he thought about Nico and headed up to the bridge.

“...really cool. You’re going to love it,” Percy was saying as Jason entered the bridge. Nico was standing a bit behind his chair, looking at the window. “You’re going to want to sit down, though. Acceleration will be a bit different from what you’re probably used to.”

Nico looked around, and Jason gestured for him to join him at the so called “backseat drivers”-seat a little behind the main pilot seats. Nico was looking in fascination when they lifted out of the dock and left the ground behind them.

“I’ve never even been in a plane before,” he said quietly. “This is...strange. And a bit uncomfortable.”

Percy laughed. “I used to hate this part as well,” he said. “It get’s better when we get out of the planet’s atmosphere. Here we go.”

Nico was looking a little green once they finally got out in orbit, but he didn’t take his eyes off the window. Jason found it a little hard to take his eyes off _Nico_ , to be honest. Despite passing out earlier he was starting to look a lot better, and for once he wasn’t looking like his world had ended and left him behind. He looked intrigued, eyes shining and lips slightly parted. Jason was almost startled to realize he actually found the boy attractive.

Not that it was so strange really, he had thought Nico was pretty cute even before, but this went deeper than that. This wasn’t “Aw, I want to ruffle his hair”, this was “I wonder what those lips feel like”.

Jason swallowed hard, forcing himself to look away. Developing a crush on a mentally unstable teenager from two centuries ago would be a very bad idea.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh sorry that this has taken so long. And that it's short. I literally have no excuse other than lack of inspiration. Thank you so much to everyone who read the last chapter!

Jason went back to sleep soon after takeoff. Jumping in hyperspace was without a doubt the most boring part of space travel. There was nothing that could happen during that time (well, technically there was a million things that _could_ theoretically happen and cause all kinds of problems, most of them ending in death, but there was nothing Jason could do about that.)

Leo seemed equally bored when they met for breakfast some eight hours later.

“I wish someone would invent a safe way to teleport already,” he said, yawning into his coffee. “Maybe I should start experimenting with that.”

“You’re not allowed to create any black holes on this ship,” Annabeth, who was eating dinner, said. “We can put you down on some uninhabited planet if you want to experiment.”

“Unless you’re experimenting on finding a way to make the MIMA work in hyperspace,” Percy said with a mouthful of spaghetti. “That would be worth a black hole or two.”

“If I could pull that off I’d be rich enough to buy a whole fleet,” Leo sighed. “One can dream.”

“What is the ‘MIMA’?” Nico asked, and Jason jumped. He wasn’t the only one. Somehow they all seemed to have overlooked him, despite the fact that he was sitting at the end of the table, watching them in confusion.

“It’s like, what was it called in your day, the ‘internet’?” Leo said. “It’s like that, only much better.”

“What’s the internet?” Nico asked, looking even more confused now.

“I think that was after your time,” Jason said. “It’s...um...”

“Like...like getting information and communicating through television?” Annabeth suggested. “Does that make any sense?”

Nico shook his head. “Not really. Are you saying you talk through the television?”

“It’s not actually television. And the MIMA is more advanced anyhow,” Jason said. “We’ll show you when we get out of hyperspace and can connect to it again.”

“We really should have thought of it sooner,” Annabeth said. “We could have saved some history books or videos for him to look at. Now we can’t get them.”

“It’ll just be a couple of days. He’ll be fine that long,” Percy yawned and got up to put his empty plate in the washer. “In the meantime you guys have the deck. I’m going to sleep. You coming, Annabeth?”

“I’ll be right up, I have some numbers I need to check with Piper first,” Annabeth said, and they both walked off in separate directions.

“All work and no play,” Leo said, shaking his head. “Speaking off, you up for a game to pass the time, Jason?”

“Why not?” Jason shrugged, then looked at Nico. “Do you want to join us?”

“What are you playing?” Nico asked. “I doubt it’s something I know, like chess.”

“I think Annabeth actually _has_ a real chessboard somewhere,” Jason said thoughtfully. “But no, this isn’t anything like that.”

“Oh this is going to blow your caveman mind,” Leo grinned as they walked to the lounge. Nico made a face at him.

“I’m not a _caveman!_ ” he said. “But hitting you with blunt objects is starting to seem appealing.”

“Leo has that effect on people,” Jason agreed, laughing at Leo’s show of betrayal. “Fortunately there is a virtual way of doing that. You’ll see.”

They settled in front of the big screen in the “living rooom”, as Percy usually called it. Leo fetched the headsets and handed one to Jason while Nico watched, eyes filled with confusion.

“Why do you need those?” he asked. “You’re both right here, you can hear each other just fine.”

“It’s not headphones,” Jason smiled. “It’s a simple brain scanner. It’ll let us move our characters with our thoughts.”

Nico stared at him. “I don’t understand.”

“Let’s just show him,” Leo grinned, turning the screen on and starting the game. “I still say we should have gone for holograms rather than a screen.”

“I hate holograms,” Jason said as he looked at the screen to choose his character. “They take so much space.”

“They’re _holograms_. They take no space at all,” Leo scoffed. “You’re as much a caveman as Nico.”

“Hey,” Nico exclaimed behind them, but he sounded a bit distracted, probably not understanding what they were doing. Jason kinda wanted to turn around and look at him, but the fight was starting and if he lost concentration Leo would end up kicking his ass.

It was a simple fighting game, the kind that had been around for a hundred years at least. Two characters beating the crap out of each other. Leo was a master at it, but Jason had never really gotten the hang of it, probably because he was a decent fighter in real life, and kept being mentally blocked by what was physically impossible. Leo of course didn’t care.

“Come on, Jason. You’re being worse than usual,” Leo complained after winning the second round in a row. “Are you distracted because of the audience?”

“Shut up,” Jason bit, but it was true he failed spectacularly. Leo just laughed.

“Maybe we should let our newest recruit have a go,” he said, turning towards Nico. “After all, it’s not really possible to do _worse._ ”

“I could try,” Nico said uncertainly. “But I wouldn’t know what to do.”

“You just imagine the character doing what you want it to do,” Jason said, handing Nico his headset. “Not everything is possible though, that would be unfair. Keep it within the limits of the character.”

“You’ll get the hang of it,” Leo said dismissively as Jason helped Nico put the headset on correctly. “I’ll go easy on you.”

Jason made a face. “Don’t trust him.”

“Okay,” Nico nodded. “I’m ready.”

***

“Stop laughing, Jason! This is not funny!” Leo exclaimed. Jason just laughed harder.

It was half an hour later, and Nico was basically decorating the walls with Leo’s character. It had only taken the boy a few lost games to understand how it worked, and now Leo didn’t stand a chance anymore.

“Never underestimate a caveman brain when it comes to violence,” Nico smirked as he won the final game. Leo gave him a sour look as he took off his headset.

“I’m never playing with you again. You’re cheating,” he muttered. “I don’t know how, but nobody is that good the first time.”

“Being better than you isn’t cheating,” Piper said from the doorway, looking amused at the scene. “He probably just have a larger mental capacity.”

“That’s it,” Leo exclaimed, throwing himself down on the couch. “My pride as a genius is hurt. I quit.”

Piper shook her head with a smile before joining Jason on the couch.

“A good thing someone finally took him down. He was getting cocky.”

“Tell me about it,” Jason smiled while Leo made a rude gesture in their general direction.

“So this is what space travel is, then?” Nico asked. “Lounging around and playing games between planets?”

“Pretty much,” Piper smiled. “Well, we do have a lot of forms to fill in and stuff, and we need to keep alert for changes in the ship, but while in hyperspace there’s not much to do.”

“When will we reach the next planet?”

“It’ll take about three days,” Piper said. “And Argo II is a pretty fast ship.”

“How long would it take us to reach Earth from here?” Nico asked, actually sounding interested.

“About a month, if we never leave hyperspace,” Piper said. “But we’d probably have to stop and get supplies once or twice.”

Nico’s eyes were huge. “It took us a month to cross the Atlantic ocean when my family moved to America,” he said. “And we could cross the galaxy in that time?”

“It’s not exactly crossing the galaxy, but yes, we could,” Piper smiled. “We need to finish this job first, though.”

“So what is this job actually about?” Jason asked. “What are we delivering?”

“Medicine,” Piper said, and Jason cringed.

“Really?” he asked.

“Not again,” Leo groaned, and Nico looked confused.

“What’s so bad about delivering medicine?”

“You have no idea,” Leo sighed, getting on his feet. “I’ll go make sure we have suits ready.”

“We’re not in any danger,” Piper said. “It’s a Dorisian colony. Whatever they have can’t spread to humans.”

“Not taking any risks after last time,” Leo said. “Suits. I’m going.”

He stalked off, leaving Jason rubbing his temples.

“I don’t understand. Is there a risk of infection?” Nico asked. “What are Dorisians?”

“Don’t worry, there’s no risk. Leo is being paranoid,” Piper said. “Dorisians are a non-terrestial race, but they have a lot in common with humanity. We even look enough alike that inter-species relationships are fairly common.”

“You’re kidding,” Nico said, wide-eyed. “But they can’t...They can’t have children, right?”

“Not so far, no. And not for lack of trying,” Piper smiled, causing Nico’s face to go completely red. It was a pretty cute reaction, to be honest. Still, there were more pressing matters to discuss.

“How bad is the situation there?” Jason asked.

“Bad. They were pretty desperate to find someone to make deliveries,” Piper said. “They didn’t dare go themselves.”

“And are we actually getting paid for this?” Jason asked.

Piper sighed. “I’ve already talked to the captain, and the answer is not really,” she said. “They are just covering our expenses, barely. But there are children dying in this flu, Jason!”

“I’m not against it,” Jason said, holding up his hands. “I take it this mission is off the records, as well.”

“Yes. The official channels for restricted supplies are being slow, as usual,” Piper said. “This is a private delivery. No, actually it's not even a 'delivery'. We're 'doing a friend a favor."'

Jason sighed. “I don’t like it, but I suppose it can’t be helped in this case.”

“I’m confused. Are we smuggling medicine?” Nico asked, and Piper smiled.

“Yes and no. We’re transporting a private collection of medicine as a gift to one of the Dorisians, who may then do what she wants with it,” Piper said. “It’s not strictly speaking smuggling.”

“It’s a loophole in the law,” Jason said. “Some medicine is restricted, because it can be used as poisons, intoxicants or even bioweapons against other species.”

“Meaning getting an official order of medicine in time to stop the outbreak is often impossible in remote locations,” Piper said. “Luckily this is just a intoxicant if you’re a shavilan, so gifts are permitted, even if only licenced stores are allowed to sell it.”

“I see,” Nico nodded. “But wouldn’t normal things like food also be poisonous to ail...non-terrestrials? Is that restricted as well?”

“Some stuff is, in certain star systems,” Jason nodded. “Usually it just depends on where you are. Colonies are are always problematic, but most planets are allowed their own rules, as long as nothing dangerous leaves the surface.”

“Cocoa is forbidden in a lot of places,” Piper added. “Humans tend to forget about it. Practically everyone I know has been fined for accidental chocolate smuggling at some point in their lives.”

“You’re kidding,” Nico said, looking at Jason for confirmation, but Jason nodded.

“It was completely forbidden in the military as well,” Jason said sadly. “Everyone was always stuffed themselves with chocolate on shore leaves in human territory.”

“Now I have a craving. I think we have some illegal chocolate in the kitchen,” Piper said. “Want some?”

“Yes, please,” Jason nodded, following her out. Nico looked torn between confused and amused, but he went with them anyway.

***

Jason woke up early the following morning. Well, “early” and “morning” were relative terms in space. He just couldn’t fall back asleep after five hours, so he got dressed and made his way towards the kitchen. He was surprised to see Nico at the table, drinking some really strong coffee judging by the smell of it. The circles under his eyes seemed darker than usual.

“Did you get any sleep at all?” Jason asked, and Nico jumped, like he hadn’t realized Jason was there.

“Jason. Good morning,” he said, seemingly a bit embarrassed. “Is that the correct term?”

“Spaceflight doesn’t really have it’s own vocabulary for greetings, so it’s fine,” Jason shrugged. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Nico looked back at his coffee. “Not really. I get...nightmares, I guess?”

“You guess?” Jason asked sitting down in front of him.

“They might be memories. I’m not sure,” Nico said quietly. “I don’t think I want to know.”

“I understand,” Jason nodded. “There are pills that would help. I have some, if you want them.”

Nico looked up at him. “You get nightmares too?”

“Sometimes,” Jason said. “I told you I lost my memories a while back? Well, before that I was a soldier. Bad memories tend to come back at night for me too.”

“I’m sorry,” Nico said. “I knew a lot of boys only a few years older than me who went to war. I was stupid enough to want to join them, at the time. Was it hard, being a soldier?”

“I grew up with it. To be honest I’ve never really known another life until now,” Jason said. “But it wasn’t all bad. Most of the work was pretty boring, actually. Routine stuff, standing around looking impressive so nobody tries anything.”

He looked back at Nico. “I guess it must have been different in your time. We haven’t really been at war during my lifetime, though I’ve seen my share of dangerous missions.”

“How did you lose your memory? If you don’t mind me asking,” Nico said, and Jason gave him a small smile.

“I don’t mind, but the truth is I don’t really remember,” Jason said. “Me and the unit I commanded were sent to investigate a strange signal from one of the outer systems. I remember landing on the planet, but that’s all.”

“Could nobody else tell you what happened?” Nico asked, and Jason shook his head.

“I was the only survivor. Apparently there was an explosion of some sort,” Jason said. “My men were found in the rubble, while I was almost a kilometre away, gravely injured and with no memory.”

“And they never found out what happened?”

“No. They blamed me. I was discharged from the military. On paper it was because of my amnesia, but I think they wanted to be rid off me,” Jason said. “I wish I could remember. I wish I knew why I didn’t die with my men. I feel like I abandoned them, but I don’t understand why I would have done that.”

“I’m sorry,” Nico said quietly. “I didn’t mean to drag this up.”

“It’s okay. I can talk about it,” Jason said. “We’ve all got a story, here. The crew of Argo II are a strange bunch.”

“I imagine I’m still the strangest one on board,” Nico said, cracking a smile, and Jason laughed.

“Undoubtedly,” he said, getting up to start making breakfast. “You hungry?”

“For omelets?” Nico asked, raising an eyebrow. “Sure.”

***

During the time they spent in hyperspace Nico seemed to be everyone’s favorite new plaything. Not in a bad way, they just took turns showing Nico around the ship and telling him how to use all the modern stuff. As fascinated as Nico was in the beginning, Jason realized pretty fast that it tired him out. After two days of being subjected to every apparatus on the ship Nico simply disappeared.

Jason couldn’t wrap his head around it. It wasn’t like Nico could have left the ship in the middle of hyperspace travel, but Jason couldn’t find him anywhere. Neither could anybody else, apparently.

“I don’t get it,” Percy said once he got involved in the search. “I know this ship like the back of my hand. There’s literally nowhere he could have hidden.”

“Except the smugglers’ compartment, but I checked that,” Leo added, and Jason raised his eyebrows.

“This ship has a smugglers’ compartment?”

“Every ship has a smugglers’ compartment.” Percy said, waving his hand dismissively. “The point is that there’s nowhere to hide.”

“Who’s hiding?” Someone asked, and they all spun around to see Nico standing in the doorway with a book in his hand. An actual paper book, probably borrowed from Annabeth.

“Where have you been?” Jason exclaimed, relieved that the boy had been found. “We looked everywhere for you.”

Nico frowned. “I was reading down in the cargo hold,” he said. “I wanted some privacy, I guess.”

“Bullshit. I checked the cargo hold,” Leo said. “I didn’t see you.”

Nico shrugged. “I was pretty far back. It’s nice and quiet down there.”

Leo still looked suspicious, but nobody else seemed all that concerned. They all scattered, leaving Nico and Jason alone in the corridor.

“You know, you’re allowed to tell us to back off if we’re bothering you,” Jason smiled, and Nico’s cheeks flushed red.

“Sorry,” he said. “I just didn’t want to listen to Leo explaining how the engine works again. I’m not entirely sure he even spoke English last time.”

Jason laughed. “Most people from this time don’t even really get it. Don’t feel bad.”

“I’m not. But Percy isn’t much better, in the opposite way,” Nico grumbled. “I can figure out how to use the toaster by myself. I’m not a complete idiot.”

“They mean well. I guess it’s hard to guess how much you already know,” Jason said.

“Not much, unfortunately,” Nico sighed. “But at least most things are easy to figure out. Although...”

“Yes?” Jason asked, and Nico blushed.

“Could you explain how the shower works again?” he asked. “I can get cold water, but there’re so many buttons and I don’t know what half of them do.”

Jason smiled. “Sure. Come on, I’ll show you.”

***

At long last they exited hyperspace. As per regulations, they were still a few hours of regular fight away from the planet, but it meant that all communication devices worked again. Including the MIMA, which Jason suspected Nico had gotten tired of hearing about at this point. It was about time he actually got to use it.

“The MIMA is a human network,” Annabeth explained as they gathered in the “living room”. “Well, some non-terrestrials have started using it, but mostly it’s human. The Empire has it’s own network for information, the INCI, but humans find it boring. The MIMA is better.”

“Why?” Nico asked, and Leo laughed.

“Plenty of reasons. The INCI doesn’t have cat videos,” Leo said, and Jason smiled.

“Leo’s right. The INCI is fine if you want to send a message or know the climate on the next planet you visit, but there's not much else to it.”

“I still don’t get what it is,” Nico complained. “Why is it called MIMA?”

“Nobody really remembers. If you ask the MIMA itself it’ll give you several different answers,” Leo laughed. “Rumor is it started out as a Multi-Intelligent Managing Assistant for a company that sold furniture, about a century ago back on earth.”

“Others say its the name of the woman who invented it,” Annabeth said. “Or developed it out of the basic 'internet’, as it were.”

Nico shook his head. “I still don’t get it.”

“Hold on, we’ll show you,” Annabeth said. “We all have smaller, private units, but we’ll use the big screen for this, so you can sit down.”

Nico sat down on the couch with a confused look on his face, and Jason sunk down beside him, watching as Annabeth activated the system.

“A connection has been established. The signal strength is: Below average,” a female voice said, and Jason’s head snapped towards the screen. That wasn’t right.

Nico yelped, covering his eyes. “Why is there a half-naked lady on the screen?”

He was right, there was a woman on the screen. Jason wouldn’t have called her half-naked, but she certainly wasn’t wearing much. Nico’s face was completely red underneath his hand.

“Leo!” Annabeth yelled angrily. “Did you change the MIMA interface again?”

“I might have,” Leo said though the door. “That guy Piper chose was creeping me out.”

“Well, this hyper-sexualization is creeping _me_ out,” Annabeth said, turning to the screen. “Change Interface: Blank.”

The lady disappeared, leaving an empty screen behind her. “Change confirmed,” a mechanical voice said.

“Sorry about that, Nico,” Annabeth said. “Leo’s antics aside, it’s a useful system. Just tell it what you’d like to see.”

“Um...I’m not sure,” Nico said. “What do you usually use it for?”

“Anything, really. Information, communication, fun...” she said, turning towards the screen. “Show me a brief summary of human history since Earth year 1943.”

The screen showed a number of different alternatives. And Annabeth briefly looked through them. “Play the second video.”

Nico sat quietly, watching with wide eyes as the most major events of the last centuries were explained. For Jason it wasn’t any new information, he had learned all of it in Military school, along with non-terrestrial history, but for Nico it must have been different.

He was very quiet after the film ended, and Jason and Annabeth gave him some time to sort it out for himself. Finally, he cleared his throat.

“Do...do this...thing have information about people?” Nico asked, voice wavering a bit.

“Sometimes. From the 2000s and forward you can find something about almost everyone, but before that is more difficult,” Annabeth said. “Who are you looking for?”

“Bianca di Angelo,” Nico said loudly, looking at the screen. Jaso could have hit himself. Of course Nico wanted to find out about his sister. They should have done this the moment he woke up from stasis, but nobody had thought of it them. Probably because the boy from the past was a bit too distracting for normal, rational thinking.

“Several people called ‘Bianca di Angelo’ have been found,” the MIMA said. “Please provide additional information.”

“Daughter of Maria di Angelo, born 1924 in Venice,” Nico said, sounding like he was choking.

"Person found." Several entries appeared on the screen, but Nico seemed scared to do anything.

“Summarize entries,” Jason said, placing a hand on Nico’s shaking shoulder.

“Bianca di Angelo, born 1924 in Venice, Italy. Dead 2002 in Washington DC, USA,” the MIMA said, and Nico made a small sound that could have been a whimper. “Noted nurse during the second world war, serving in France and Italy. Upon returning home worked tirelessly to set up a network of orphanages throughout the country, allegedly in the hope of finding information about her brother, Nico di Angelo, who disappeared without a trace in 1943. Won several archery competitions and trained two Olympic medalists. Famous for active participation in several Women’s Rights organisations and Feminist movements, as well as vocally protesting the Vietnam war. No partner or children on record.”

Nico was crying now, and not even trying to hide his tears. “Thank you,” he said quietly. “I just… She had a long life. I should be happy for her.”

Jason hesitated then put an arm around him. “I’m sorry,” he said and Nico nodded silently, staying for a moment before getting on his feet.

“I think….I’ll go back to my room for a bit,” he said, practically fleeing from them. Jason looked after him, heart aching for him.

“Poor guy,” Annabeth said quietly. “That must have been hard.”

Jason nodded. “I just wish there was something I could do to help.”

Annabeth gave him a small smile. “Out of the whole crew, I think you’re the one who's been helping him the most. Give him time.”

***

Some hours later Jason went to Nico’s room, buzzing the radio outside. There was no answer, but a while later the door opened. Nico stood before him, looking tired. His eyes were still slightly red from crying, but he seemed better.

“I had no idea what to press,” Nico said. “How does that radio thing work, anyway?”

Jason gave him a smile. “I can show you later,” he said. “We’re approaching Daisi. I figured you might want to watch the landing.”

“Sure,” Nico said. “Will it be the same as last time?”

“Not exactly. Daisi has a much smaller port,” Jason said, starting to wall up towards the cockpit. “If we’re not careful we’ll end up landing in the jungle.”

“You ever crash land?” Nico asked as they walked, and Jason made a face.

“Once. We were being shot at,” he said. “It’s a long story.”

“Maybe you can tell me about it later,” Nico said. They entered the cockpit, where Percy was steering while Annabeth negotiated with the port.

“Daisi ground control, this is Argo II. Requesting permission to land,” Annabeth said into the microphone somewhere behind them. Jason was busy watching the planet in front of them. No, scratch that. He was busy watching _Nico_ watching the planet in front of them.

“It’s so green,” he whispered in wonder. “The last planet was all brown.”

Jason smiled. “That’s why I said Monssor shouldn’t be the first new planet you saw,” he said. “That was a wasteland, but Daisi is almost all vegetation.”

“It's amazing. What does Earth look like?” Nico asked, not taking his eyes of the approaching planet.

“It’s very blue,” Jason said uncertainly. “We can look it up on the MIMA if you want.”

“Okay,” Nico nodded. “What are they doing down there?”

“I think it’s just a colonization attempt,” Jason said. “There are probably a lot of resources down there, though. Most of the planet is basically uncharted.”

“This colony is pretty secluded, but they do trade in rare foodstuffs,” Piper added. “Apparently some fruit from Daisi is pretty popular among Dorisian gourmets.”

“Hence the medicine, I bet,” Annabeth said, having finished communicating with the ground control. “Buckle up, we’ll be entering the atmosphere in a minute.”

It was a bumpy ride down. Jason as pretty used to the turbulence, but Nico looked a bit green when they finally reached the ground.

“Sorry about that. Not my best landing, blame it on the weather. And that tree we may or may not have decapitated,” Percy said. “Now let’s suit up and go be heroes!”

“We’re just here for the delivery. Don’t do anything stupid,” Annabeth said with a sigh.

“Fine, fine,” Percy laughed. “Come on. Let’s go!”

They all started moving out of the cockpit, but Nico seemed a bit hesitant.

“There’s no suit for me, right?” he said. “Do I have to stay on the ship?”

Piper smiled. “Relax. We’re not talking about airtight suits here, no matter what Leo might have said. We basically just need gloves and masks, and even that is just a precaution. We’ll get sprayed with disinfectant when we re-enter the ship, remember?”

“Right,” Nico nodded. “So it’s okay if I come?”

“As long as you help carry the medicine boxes,” Percy said with a grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise there will be more plot in the next chapter. Thank's for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! The next chapter will hopefully be up soon.


End file.
